


Waiting

by LovelyJehan



Category: Torchwood
Genre: Episode: Audio Drama: The Dead Line, Ianto Jones-Centric, Introspection, M/M, Sort Of, Spoilers, Temporary Character Death - Jack Harkness, mentions of other character deaths
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-10
Updated: 2018-09-10
Packaged: 2019-07-10 20:37:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15957071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LovelyJehan/pseuds/LovelyJehan
Summary: I was listening to 'The Dead Line' and immediately decided I had to write a fic about Ianto waiting for Jack to wake up.





	Waiting

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Ianto's dialogue comes directly from the Big Finish Audio Drama 'The Dead Line', I don't own any of it. 
> 
> I also didn't copy the dialogue from the audio, instead I found it online, which means that the wording may be slightly off.

Ianto had never liked hospitals. They smelled too strongly of bleach, and whilst Ianto was a fan of cleanliness, it didn’t quite stretch this far. The chair he sat in was stiff and uncomfortable, but he was prepared to sit there until Jack woke up. He didn’t like to kid himself in thinking that Jack would do the same for him, he knew that if Jack had to choose between him and the world, Jack wouldn’t choose someone as unimportant as Ianto Jones. 

 

Jack lay in the hospital bed, not dead, but not awake, His eyes were open. Something that unnerved Ianto. He held Jack’s hand for something to do, tracing the outline of his palm and playing with Jack’s fingers. It wasn’t something that Ianto did often, only sometimes before they slept. It was something he did with Lisa before she had been converted. A habit that he had carried on with Jack. 

 

Gwen and Rhys had gone to an abandoned office building to chase down a lead, and Stella had gone to look at the other patients’ brain scans, leaving him alone with his lover. Gwen had given him a look before they had parted. One that suggested she understood why he wasn’t going to leave Jack’s side, the ever loyal office boy. He had already lost Lisa, he couldn’t lose Jack too. Ianto had loved Lisa with every fibre of his being, he had been planning to propose to her before Canary Wharf, but he hadn’t found a ring that he felt suitable for her. She would have said yes. They would have gotten married. She would have looked beautiful. 

 

He had been distraught when Lisa had died. Those three weeks of suspension were hell. Ianto dealt with his grief by doing. By working or cleaning or other mundane, menial chores. And he would continue to do so until things felt okay again. It’s what he did when his mam died. It’s what he did with his father. Halfway through his suspension, Jack had visited and Ianto had cried and had begged for work, for something to do. He had already packed all of Lisa’s belongings up into boxes and stored them in a cupboard. He had called Lisa’s family and told them some lie about how she had died. 

 

“They say you’re supposed to talk to people when they’re in a coma, don’t they?” Ianto started. “I have absolutely no idea if you can hear me, Jack. I’ve never heard of anyone coming out of one and carrying on the conversation, so I suspect it’s just something the doctors tell us to do, make us feel better rather than you. We get the feeling there’s still some sort of purpose in our lives. We’re not just waiting, waiting for the science to work or the miracle to happen, or the nightmare to end.” 

 

Thoughts of Lisa crossed his mind. He paused. Swallowed. 

 

“I’m not much of a talker, Jack. You know that, but I’ll talk for now on the off chance that it helps. Just promise me if you’re hearing this, when you come round - and you’re going to, Jack, you’re going to come out of this - just promise you’ll never bring up anything I say to you now.” 

 

Ianto noticed his hands shaking and drew them away from Jack’s. “This must be the longest I’ve ever looked at you and not seen you smile. I’ve watched you in your sleep, did you know that?” 

 

Ianto thought he must. 

 

“So many times, I’ve just woken up beside you in the middle of the night and watched you. Watched your eyes moving behind your eyelids as you dream. I’ve tried to imagine what a man like you could possibly dream about. The things you’ve seen. The lives you’ve lived. The people you’ve loved. I wondered if you were dreaming of me, I hope you were dreaming of me.” He added.

 

“But lets be honest Jack, I’m nothing more than a blip in time for you. Each day I grow a little older, but you’re immortal. You’ve already lived a thousand lives, how could you watch me grow old and die? How can I watch you live and never age a day?” He licked his lips. 

 

“I suppose we both know that will never be a problem, not with this job. No one in Torchwood ever lives to draw their pension, do they? Even if - by some miracle - I survive to see my hair turn grey, or god forbid fall out, I don’t kid myself that you’d still be around to see it.” Tears pricked at his eyes.

 

“One day, you’ll go again, just like you did before. And this time, you won't be back. Maybe that’s what you’re dreaming about those nights I watch you sleeping. Maybe that’s why, even when you sleep, I see you smile.” Ianto couldn’t hold himself back as the words tumbled out of his mouth. 

 

“But you haven’t gone yet, Jack. I know that. And I know you’re going to come back to me.” 

 

He blinked back the tears and took Jack’s hand once again. He couldn’t bare the thought of Jack being stuck like that for eternity. Not after Lisa. 

 

Ianto was sure that if Owen were there, he’d make some snide comment and then tell him that Jack would pull through. He always did. Tosh would be on her PDA trying to figure out what was happening with the phones. _Always the bloody phones_ , he thought. 

 

He felt somewhat silly as he sat, fretting about Jack. He had never thought himself to be the overprotective boyfriend, if the ‘b’ word could be applied to their relationship. Ianto was a protective person, he liked to keep his private life private and he liked to make sure that the people he was close to were safe. He had with Lisa. He had with Tosh in Brecon Beacons. He and Owen had made peace. Now they were all gone and he couldn’t stand the thought of Jack slipping through his fingers as well. _This is what Jack must feel like all the time._

 

Jack had left them before for his Doctor, what was stopping him leaving again? He had said that he had stayed for them, for Torchwood, but what would keep him now that they were down two members? Ianto wasn’t stupid enough to think that it would be him, although he couldn't ignore the hope that soared in his chest when the thought crossed his mind, but it retracted quickly. 

 

There had been no word from Gwen yet and Ianto felt himself get more antsy as the time drew on. How long would Jack have to stay like this? For eternity? Ianto hoped not. Gwen Cooper give up looking for a way to help Jack? Unlikely. He knew that he wouldn’t either. Lisa was a testament to that. 

 

Death forever plagued a Torchwood employee, but none so much as Ianto. Ianto who had lost everyone from Torchwood One regardless of how well he knew them. Suzie. Lisa. Owen, twice. Tosh. Jack was the one person Ianto knew he could never lose. At least not to death. To his Doctor maybe or to John Hart or to another old flame from Jack’s past, and yet here he was at Jack’s bedside. Waiting for him to wake up. 


End file.
